Good choice. Most people put Airborne in the co-pilot's seat but I see him more as a former 15T UH-60 Helicopter Repairer (basically the crew chief's on a Blackhawk) then reclassifying as an Infantryman versus being an actual pilot (which would require him to be a Warrant Officer).

I did use Airborne previously, as a secondary role to being a para. Like I've used Lady Jaye as backseater to Ace, as a secondary role, and Falcon as a Persuader gunner as a secondary role.

Jaye's role in the back seat was pretty well established in the comic, but the dossier for her (also from the comic, and here: Lady Jaye (v1) G.I. Joe Action Figure - YoJoe Archive) says she's a qualified single-engine fixed-wing pilot. Any idea where that came from? I don't remember seeing her fly anything (well, in the cartoon everyone flew everything) that would merit that kind of mention.

Jaye's role in the back seat was pretty well established in the comic, but the dossier for her (also from the comic, and here: Lady Jaye (v1) G.I. Joe Action Figure - YoJoe Archive) says she's a qualified single-engine fixed-wing pilot. Any idea where that came from? I don't remember seeing her fly anything (well, in the cartoon everyone flew everything) that would merit that kind of mention.

That is her action force dossier isn't it? I wonder if Lady Jaye should have been an officer? She does have a college degree.

While based on a Navy plane the Skystriker came out 2 years before the FLAGG. So I can't imagine the FLAGG was in their wildest dreams in 83? Why they choose the F-14 vs the F-15 or the F-16 which was all the rage back in those days before Top Gun I will never know.

The Ghost Striker X-16 is a great toy. So i am glad we finally got it. 10 years later.

Toy Product development is usually a couple of years before distribution. So, it's probable that the idea for the USS Flagg came out along with the idea of the Skystriker, but pre-production of the Flagg would of course take much longer. Also, I've read that the Skystriker was made from kitbashing 1/32 scale Tomcat model kits, which would have sped up the pre-production process.

I agree about the choice of jet though, I always found it odd that GI Joe had an Air Force pilot flying a Navy jet from an Army base!

Jaye's role in the back seat was pretty well established in the comic, but the dossier for her (also from the comic, and here: Lady Jaye (v1) G.I. Joe Action Figure - YoJoe Archive) says she's a qualified single-engine fixed-wing pilot. Any idea where that came from? I don't remember seeing her fly anything (well, in the cartoon everyone flew everything) that would merit that kind of mention.

Might be based on the Marvel Comic "Shakedown" which is basically a Skystriker vs Rattler issue. Lady Jaye mentions that she is qualified for flying or something like that.

Toy Product development is usually a couple of years before distribution. So, it's probable that the idea for the USS Flagg came out along with the idea of the Skystriker, but pre-production of the Flagg would of course take much longer. Also, I've read that the Skystriker was made from kitbashing 1/32 scale Tomcat model kits, which would have sped up the pre-production process.

I agree about the choice of jet though, I always found it odd that GI Joe had an Air Force pilot flying a Navy jet from an Army base!

Jason

That's True. When did the FLAGG first appear in the Cartoons? I don't think it was right away. I like to think the first two years were all fleshed out together, but they went with the Original 13, before adding the 3 other services. The first mini-series had everybody from both years.

I seem to remember vaguely that even though it was before Top Gun, the F-14 was thought of as a cool fighter jet because of the swing wing design. The sort of nerds, I mean kids, who might have bought GI Joe were also the same kids who were getting books on the armed forces from the school library.